Choose the correct one-word substitute for: 'The use of trickery to achieve a political or financial goal'.

Correct — B. The definition turns on one word: trickery, used to reach a political or financial end.

Chicanery is deception by trickery, quibbling or subterfuge. It names the very method the definition describes → option (b).

The word comes from French chicanerie, trickery.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Diplomacy — Diplomacy is the management of relations between countries, or tact in handling people. It can serve political goals, but it is skill, not trickery.
• (c)
  Bribery — Bribery is offering money or favours to influence someone. It is corrupt, but it works by payment, not by trickery, so it misses the definition's key word.
• (d)
  Propaganda — Propaganda is publicity that pushes a cause, especially when biased or misleading. It is mass persuasion, not trickery in dealings, and the financial goal does not fit it.

A one-word substitution item wants the word whose dictionary sense matches the whole definition. Here the head of the definition is the use of trickery. The political or financial goal only sets the scene.

Diplomacy, Bribery and Propaganda all belong to politics or money, which is why they tempt. Test each against trickery: diplomacy is skill, bribery is payment, propaganda is persuasion.

Chicanery is the option whose core sense is trickery itself.

Key facts

• Chicanery is deception by trickery, quibbling or subterfuge.
• It comes from French chicanerie, trickery.
• Bribery influences someone by payment or favours.
• Propaganda is publicity that furthers a cause, especially when biased or misleading.

Common traps

• Picking Bribery because the goal is financial, without testing it against the word trickery
• Picking Propaganda because the goal is political, when propaganda is persuasion rather than trickery

No directly related past PYQ was found.